Much debate (Brooklyn Jews, Canonist, DovBear, Jewschool, Mere Rhetoric, etc.) in the Jewish blogosphere around today’s New York Times article about synagogue outreach (an article which mentions S3K).

For what it’s worth — and it’s quite important to us — S3K’s statement of purpose includes the following:

…We seek to make synagogues compelling moral and spiritual centers – sacred communities – for the twenty-first century.

…Sacred communities are those where relationships with God and with each other define everything the synagogue does; where ritual is engaging; where Torah suffuses all we do; where social justice is a moral imperative; and where membership is about welcoming and engaging both the committed and the unaffiliated.

…We stand for spirituality beyond ethnicity, Judaism as a life-long journey beyond the pediatric and the geriatric; community beyond corporation; and commitment beyond consumerism. Success for us is when synagogues develop deeper relationships with their members rather than simply offering more programs. (Emphasis added.)

Without sacred community, marketing is well, just that.

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